Madame Gao
Madame Gao, formerly known as the Crane Mother of the Hand, is a supporting antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts Unlimited Saga, first appearing in "An Empire of Dreams" as a council member in Wilson Fisk's criminal organization during the events of the Hell's Kitchen campaign, later returning in several other installments being revealed as one of the original founders of the Hand. Story Many ages ago in the time of the Lands of Legend, Gao was born as a poor Chinese farmer, wishing for excitement in her life and growing jealous of the fact that the LoL incarnation of Fa Mulan was receiving the highest praise for breaking society's rules while she always had her dreams of becoming a warrior shot down by her more conservative family. One day in the marketplace, Gao discovered hidden texts that told of the existence of the city of K'un-Lun, the home of the Order of the Dragon Monks, and saw that as her ticket to achieving fame and accolade by the Imperial Chinese government for her work as a guardian monk. Making up her mind, she embarked on a long trip to the Himalayan Mountains, where she requested an audience with the K'un-Lun Elders to let her stay in their retreat and train as a warrior monk to receive enlightenment, to which they reluctantly agreed despite them sensing the beginning traces of darkness brewing in her heart. For years afterward, Gao served the Order faithfully and diligently, eventually coming to learn of one of the leading titles of K'un-Lun's hierarchy, the Crane Mother of K'un-Zi, and seeing what the title entailed as being exactly in alignment with her goals, applied for the service so that one day she would be crowned as the Crane Mother and lead the next generation of martial artists, most notably her faction of Crane Champions and Crane Daughters, in protecting Midgard from alien threats. However, that same lust for power was also being tempered by the fact that she was growing older and losing her touch with each passing decade, something she most certainly did not want to happen to her before she got the Crane Mother title in her possession. That was when a younger student of the Order, Alexandra of the Tiger Island faction, approached her with a tantalizing offer she had developed in her training; it seemed that an astral aspect of the ancient Inhuman terrorist, Alveus Hive, had appeared before Alexandra in her dreams one night, tempting her to his side by offering her power beyond her wildest dreams to make her immortal if she would only bow her head to him in eternal worship. Alexandra, seeing no other way, had agreed, and, under Alveus' secret teachings, began learning how to pervert the Chi healing techniques of K'un-L'un into darker variations with dark magic to control the mind and regenerate from even the most fatal wounds at the temporary cost of the user's sanity. And now, Alexandra wished to share that same brand of teaching with Gao since she too feared growing old and passing away without having ever achieved the glory of the Crane Mother titleship. Thinking it over, Gao agreed to work alongside Alexandra and her growing army of insurgents in order to free Alveus from the planet Maveth and receive immortality so that they would become the new leaders of K'un-Lun's individual Orders and hopefully the dark lord's council in his new world order. The band of neophytes brewed this plan for several years long into the days of the Modern Era, and nearly succeeded in opening the gateway to Maveth until they were caught by agents of the Elders and brought to trial for their crimes against the city. Seeing the betrayal of Alexandra and her band severely disheartened the Elders, but worst of all was Gao's involvement in the coup, seeing as how she had been so diligent and loyal beforehand, they would have no doubt given her the title of Crane Mother had she waited some more time in her training instead of performing such treasonous behavior. As a result of their actions, the 5 cultists were hereby banished from K'un-Lun for all time and left with nothing to them but the clothes on their backs and their eternal shame. However, Alexandra refused to back down so easily and convinced the other generals including Gao to plot anew by her side, requesting the help of the Cult of Alveus and the Illuminati, as well as Murakami's other patron deity/Old One the Beast Lord, to allow them access to regather their strength so that they may one day get revenge on K'un-Lun and their army of the Chaste, all the while cultivating the bones of dragons they had slain to brew immortality elixirs to maintain their already-fragile lives for many centuries. By the 17th century, Gao returned to her old stomping grounds of Imperial China, breaking off public ties to her fellow Hand leaders so that she can concentrate on her own plans to achieve immortality through the business of selling lethal drugs at the black market in the mocking image of one of K'un-Lun's greatest warriors, the Steel Serpent, to ensnare unwilling souls under the spell of the Hand's dominion. Appearance and Personality Abilities Category:Villains Category:The Hand Category:HYDRA Category:The Galactic Empire Category:Businesspeople Category:Crime Lords Category:Martial Artists Category:Darkness Users Category:Witches Category:Worshippers of the Great Evil Category:The Kingpin's Criminal Empire